Whew.
Decker will be 29 by opening day next season. So I assume he’s fair game in your scenario.
I think people think Decker is younger than he is. And infatuated with the idea of having the Cowboy’s championship level OL. With a mobile QB you don’t need to have that, you can settle for above average, which I think they can be without Decker.
That is interesting, especially paired with the stat someone else shared where the Lions are better than league average on converting to a new set of downs across the board.
I’m wondering if this is an Anthony Lynn thing… his Chargers offenses also had some really good stats paired with some really bad stats.
No, I’d keep Decker. I like his deal and think he’s perfect to keep on the left side until Sewell is running into his extension.
I would keep Decker and let him walk when it’s time to renew and move Sewell to the left. Or, even better, trade Decker at that time if you can get anything for him.
I get your take and don’t dislike it, but I think it’d cost the Lions as much if not more to sign his replacement and his replacement would be a lesser player most likely.
Because of that, I’d rather just keep Decker and let him play out the prime of his career here.
Well, agree to disagree.
I don’t think you ask Sewell to work on his craft at RT for a few years and then flip him over. I think he has HOF potential and those guys at most spent just one year at RT before moving over. Why do that?
We’ll see what Holmes thinks. Maybe he doesn’t get an offer that moves the needle. But I think if you keep Decker you move him to RT next year whether he likes it or not.
Why don’t we trade our future 1st rounders for more future draft picks in '25 and '26. Let’s keep on kicking that can down the road.
Reductio ad absurdum, my friend. From the sublime to the ridiculous. The Lions need to build through the draft. Too many holes right now.
Excellent point. The Lions haven’t been exactly stellar at selecting RBs in recent years.
I definitely understand what you are saying there. IMO, it depends on how Sewell feels about it. I did actually think it was telling, when Sewell talked about how stoked he was to be going back to LT. Reason for concern? I’m not sure, but maybe.
Ha! I am a fan of spending money on DL first. When you smash the pocket and shut down the run, LBs run around clean and don’t get caught up in the wash. Also, DBs have to cover for 1/3 the amount of time. When we had Suh/Fairley/Jones/Ansah, Levy behind them, our DBs were almost non-existent. LOL. They were average at best, but posted good numbers.
I’m a fan of being good at something and building out from there. I am wrong about all sorts of stuff, and am open to the idea that I could be wrong here too. LOL.
As for OL, I would not be surprised if Vaitai is moved as a cap move. If that happens, we are all of a sudden weak on OL (if Decker is moved). We’d be lucky to be average.
This stuff is gonna be fun to watch and see how it all pans out/what the Lions front offices think.
I can see this line of thinking too. I am starting to like Cephus more and more. I believe in Sun God. I think a legit house threat would help them a ton too.
appreciate the thought out post and the time you took to create it, man.
How low would it be without the turnovers too 
No.
YES!
Right, and also look forward to the short career that movie QBs typically have. Give me Brady type over the others.
Is the culture any different from
Sol if they just treat every player like a business transaction ? Trade him for cap space … he’s too old to be a part of a winner … don’t worry the turnover will judt motivate every body to play hard for the losing team rather than play for self …
Swift may not have shown as much as we want
But then again … he’s not been in easy situations.
Unless it’s a 1st, it’s pointless to trade him. He’s arguably their most dangerous pass catcher and if you’re going forward with “Check Down” Goff, he’ll likely be their most valuable offensive weapon in future years too outside of Hock. Durability is always a concern with RBs but I’d take that chance with Swift rather than give him away.
This is definitely an interesting conversation.
The Browns, who of late were even more hapless than us, rebuilt by hoarding draft picks and now have one of the most talented rosters in the league. Yes, you have to hit on those picks, but more picks means more margin for error. This is why I’m always open to trading for picks, despite the magic beans aspect of them. We need to add so much talent, and by far the best way to do that is via the draft.
That said, I’d trade Swift way before I’d trade Decker. OTs have much longer shelf lives than RBs, even at 28 I expect Decker to have about the same amount of years left in the league as Swift. Plus he plays a far, far more valuable position, one that’s more difficult to fill because of it.
At RB however, more than half the league heavily uses guys drafted after the 2nd round or signed in FA. Aaron Jones, Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt, James Robinson, Austin Ekeler, Antonio Gibson, Lat Murray, Chris Carson, David Montgomery, Trey Sermon/Elijah Mitchell/Raheem Mostert/Jeff Wilson, Darrell Henderson, Chase Edmonds/James Conner, Devin Singletary/Zach Moss, Tony Pollard, Damian Harris, Michael Carter, Myles Gaskin/Salvon Ahmed, Mike Davis/Cordarrelle Patterson. And it’s been about the same going back twenty years. It’s why you always hear about running back value being so poor. It’s the most replaceable position in the league. The OL matters more to run success than the RB.
I wouldn’t trade him, I’d use him like marshall faulk, only not every down obviously although you could. he’s only an inch shorter and heavier than faulk was. Reggie bush maybe too.
He’s the kind of back you really could use the ‘5 yard handoff’ for. I’m not saying they’re misusing him right now but he is a really good mismatch for a defense.
Agree, except for the part about Decker. I definitely listen to offers for him. I want the Lions to be so full of beans that Allen Park smells like a methane energy plant.
What’s the point of trading away the few players you’ve hit on with those magic beans just to acquire more beans? If you get lucky and hit again, are you just going to trade away those players too for even more beans?
At some point you need to keep players worthy of being kept. The ones who will be here for the turn around. You can’t create other holes for magic beans so you can try to find a replacement. It makes little sense.
I’ll caveat that by saying if you get stupid value offers, then you’d have to consider it. Three firsts for Decker, we’re definitely talking. Two firsts and a legit starter, talking. A first, nope.
Same with Swift, just not to that level. RBs do not grow on trees for this franchise. They totally suck at finding them. How about we keep the ones we finally found for a bit.
Name one purely bad running back that this staff has acquired? Most Lions fans as a whole need to stop acting like we’ve had the same exact staff for the past 60 years. Every single running back that this staff has brought in looked at the very least not bad. It was probably the deepest position on the team during the preseason.
Why should the running back success of two staffs ago dictate the ability of this staff to evaluate running backs?
This team has a huge talent deficit and we keep talking about trading our best players for picks? We need to be adding talent to this team not trading it for the chance of getting a better player. Keep all the talent we have and hopefully over the next two drafts and free agency continue to add young talented players. I just can’t understand the infatuation with trading our best players???
A first and second round pick in 22 and a 2nd round pick in 23…
Sure, I’d do that.
@wesleysh21 pointed this out first… but Cleveland really didn’t build the current roster with all the extra picks they hoarded. They missed on a ton of picks
In 2016, they had 14 picks, and Joe Schobert was the only decent player they picked.
In 2017, they had 3 picks in 1st rd, and Myles Garrett was their original pick. The 2 picks they acquired resulted in Peppers and Njoku… who never did much for them.
In 2018, Baker was their original pick.
They did land Denzel Ward and Nick Chubb with picks they got from Houston… but those 2 are the only good ayers they added by hoarding picks.
The bulk of thsir good players were draft with their own picks or added in free agency and trades.